A state of emergency was declared for Chapel Hill residents Friday afternoon due to a water shortage for Orange Water and Sewer Authority customers, according to Mayor Pam Hemminger, WRAL reports.
Orange County Emergency Services said in statement at 4 p.m. Friday that OWASA customers can't use water for any purpose for at least 24 hours.
WATCH: Orange County Emergency Management officials hold press conferenceBusinesses such as hotels and restaurants are being ordered to closed.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is also asking students who live on campus to consider leaving for the weekend.
DOWNLOAD: Keep up with local news, weather and current events with the WXII app here.
Due to a shutdown of the Jones Ferry Road Water Treatment Plant and a major water main break Friday morning on the northeast side of Chapel Hill, near Dobbins Drive, the water supply in the OWASA system reached very low levels, officials said.
Officials said using water could result in contamination of the OWASA system. Customers were encouraged to use bottled water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene. Bottled water can also be used to flush a toilet after pouring the water into the tank, officials said. 1
Due to the water main break, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools dismissed students early. According to a tweet by UNC Housing, dorms will not close, but students were encouraged to leave campus if possible.
Steve Kirschner, UNC's senior associate A.D. told WRAL News that Saturday's basketball game against Notre Dame "is in question."
All restaurants served by OWASA were ordered closed by the Orange County Health Director Friday afternoon.
GoTriangle said an additional bus on route 800 will be sent to Chapel Hill to pick people up who are at the South Road at Fetzer Gym stop. The bus will continue on to Streets at Southpoint, where passengers can transfer to other locations.
Regular route 800 service between Chapel Hill, South Point and the Regional Transit Center will continue for the remainder of the afternoon and early evening, following the usual schedule.
According to a spokesperson for the town of Hillsborough, the town operates under a separate water system and customers in Hillsborough are unaffected by the water main break.
The water main break comes one day after an accidental overfeed of fluoride in the water treatment plant forced the utility to get drinking water from the City of Durham. The excess fluoride was contained to the Jones Ferry Road plant.
It is unclear is the water main break is related to the fluoride overfeed.
Residents with questions about the water shortage can contact Orange County emergency officials at 919-245-6111.

WRAL —

A state of emergency was declared for Chapel Hill residents Friday afternoon due to a water shortage for Orange Water and Sewer Authority customers, according to Mayor Pam Hemminger, WRAL reports.

Orange County Emergency Services said in statement at 4 p.m. Friday that OWASA customers can't use water for any purpose for at least 24 hours.

Businesses such as hotels and restaurants are being ordered to closed.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is also asking students who live on campus to consider leaving for the weekend.

DOWNLOAD: Keep up with local news, weather and current events with the WXII app here.

Due to a shutdown of the Jones Ferry Road Water Treatment Plant and a major water main break Friday morning on the northeast side of Chapel Hill, near Dobbins Drive, the water supply in the OWASA system reached very low levels, officials said.

Officials said using water could result in contamination of the OWASA system. Customers were encouraged to use bottled water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene. Bottled water can also be used to flush a toilet after pouring the water into the tank, officials said. 1

Due to the water main break, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools dismissed students early.

According to a tweet by UNC Housing, dorms will not close, but students were encouraged to leave campus if possible.

All restaurants served by OWASA were ordered closed by the Orange County Health Director Friday afternoon.

GoTriangle said an additional bus on route 800 will be sent to Chapel Hill to pick people up who are at the South Road at Fetzer Gym stop. The bus will continue on to Streets at Southpoint, where passengers can transfer to other locations.

Regular route 800 service between Chapel Hill, South Point and the Regional Transit Center will continue for the remainder of the afternoon and early evening, following the usual schedule.

According to a spokesperson for the town of Hillsborough, the town operates under a separate water system and customers in Hillsborough are unaffected by the water main break.

The water main break comes one day after an accidental overfeed of fluoride in the water treatment plant forced the utility to get drinking water from the City of Durham. The excess fluoride was contained to the Jones Ferry Road plant.

It is unclear is the water main break is related to the fluoride overfeed.

Residents with questions about the water shortage can contact Orange County emergency officials at 919-245-6111.